Historically, there was an Indian path leading through the Buckhorn area, and in what would become Buckhorn the path was blazed by the antlers of a deer in a white oak sapling. When the first non-native settlers arrived in the Fishing Creek valley, they created another path that intersected the Indian path, and the community came to be named for the deer antlers. The community was founded due to discovery of ore in the area. Vaniah Rees built the first house in the community in 1820. The first store in the community was opened in 1836. Mail was periodically brought to Buckhorn starting in 1850, but mail was not brought to Buckhorn on a daily basis until 1883.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikipedia. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
